Category Archives: NTO (National Tourist Offices)

A high-level government and tourism delegation from the Republic of Mauritius visited the United Arab Emirates this week (10 – 13 January, 2021), as part of a week-long promotional and business development mission to position Mauritius as the destination and partner of choice for the UAE’s travel agents, tourism industry partners and leisure-seeking residents. Led by the Honourable Louis Steven Obeegadoo, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, and supported by H.E Showkutally Soodhun, Ambassador of the Republic of Mauritius to the UAE, as well as Mr. Arvind Bundhun, Director, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority (MTPA), the delegation included 25 tour operators and hospitality representatives from Mauritius eager to reconnect with the UAE’s leading travel agents, and grow visitation from the UAE and Gulf region to Mauritius. The delegation heads met with Dubai and UAE government officials, private companies and airline representatives to strengthen established partnerships and seek new opportunities that position Mauritius as a safe, exciting and rejuvenating destination for all residents of the Gulf region. A number of key events were held as a platform to bring the tourism industries together to create innovative and enticing holiday packages to Mauritius. A travel agent workshop was held on January 11th, 2021 at the One and Only Royal Mirage Dubai, that saw 110 leading travel agents and outbound travel professionals from Dubai and the Northern Emirates hold one to one meetings with sales representatives from Mauritius’ preeminent hotels, resorts, and tour operators. On January 12th, 2021, a similar workshop was held at the same venue for 80 travel specialists from Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, that were especially invited by the Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority. The promotional week concluded with a …

The Department of Tourism (DOT) has trained over 30,000 tourism professionals, surpassing its targets for such in 2021. Tourism Secretary Berna Romulo-Puyat expressed her satisfaction with the latest numbers noting their continued commitment to support the tourism industry towards its recovery and sustainability. As of 23 December 2021, the DOT has already surpassed its targets, providing necessary training to 30,680 tourism professionals, higher than its 16,000 target threshold.“Through these training programs, the DOT is capacitating our tourism workforce, maintaining service quality and ensuring that that their skills can match the requirements in the new normal” Puyat said. Still, the Department’s target of having at least 45 percent of women trained was likewise achieved with 58 percent while the remaining 42 percent were men. In addition, data from the DOT-Office of Industry Manpower Development or OIMD showed the total number of training in 2021 stood at 677, higher than the recorded 558 year-ago. Advocacy trainings conducted The trainings, which are conducted in coordination with the DOT regional offices also included the Department’s advocacy programs such as Barrier Free Tourism and TourISM WoRCS (Tourism Integrates, Supports and Minds Women’s Rights and Child Safety). Barrier Free Tourism training include topics about disability and autism sensitivity in the industry among others while TourISM WoRCS is designed as a preventive program to mitigate the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the tourism industry. Further, the Department held a webinar entitled TOPCOP in the New Normal 2.0–which focuses on the safety and security of tourists from COVID-19 pandemic where protocols in public areas are discussed. To ensure that our tourism workers and frontliners are also safe during this pandemic and beyond, Basic Occupational Safety and Health Trainings …

The Italy Pavilion hosted a forum ‘Lazio, a Luxury Destination’ discussing the culture, wellbeing, fashion, sport and world-class ingredients that are on offer to visitors from the Gulf region. Attracting millions of tourists each year, Italy continues to be one of the world’s leading luxury destinations for travellers. Luxury tourism is a key strategic growth area for Italy and Lazio was the subject of yesterday’s forum at the Italy Pavilion Amphitheatre, and how the central region will play a crucial role in attracting more wealthy travellers from the Arabian Peninsula and wider Middle East. Organised by Lazio’s Regional Department for Tourism, ‘Lazio, a Luxury Destination’, was also attended by Paolo Glisenti, Commissioner-General for Italy’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai; Valentina Corrado, Lazio Regional Minister for Tourism, Local Agencies, Urban Security, Local Police and Administrative Streamlining; Quirino Briganti, Responsible for Lazio Region activities at “Expo 2020 Dubai”; Matteo Caroli, Tenured Professor of Economics and International Enterprise Management at LUISS University, Rome; Giorgio Palmucci, ENIT President; Marco Misischia, National President of CNA (Confederation of Craftsmen and SMEs); Lavinia Biagiotti, President and CEO of Biagiotti Group; Fausto Palombelli, President of Unindustria Association – division for tourism and leisure, and Carlo Acampora, CEO of Grand Hotel Via Veneto. A high-end tourism survey conducted in May 2021 by Bain & Company on behalf of the Altagamma Foundation (a luxury brands committee) revealed that in 2019, the year before the outbreak of the pandemic, the luxury tourism sector in Italy still generated an overall turnover of 25 billion Euros (pre-pandemic this figure is around 60 billion Euros). This included both direct and indirect revenues from 1% of accommodation facilities and 3% of overnight stays in Italy, …

The France Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai records its first million visitors since it’s opening on October 1st, 2021, boosted by events dedicated to international visitors and B2B audiences. With three months left, the France Pavilion is more involved than ever to provide a memorable experience for all visitors. Alongside the permanent exhibition, two temporary exhibitions are in the pipeline, each one dedicated to an artistic expertise: “Grand Paris Express” under the theme of architecture from January 20th to February 21st (by the Société du Grand Paris x Dominique Perrault) and “Jean Paul Gaultier from A to Z”, an exceptional retrospective of the enfant terrible de la mode’s 50 years of career from February 28th to March 31st. The first three-months were kicked off with France National Day on October 2nd, a special day confirming that the pavilion is an unforgettable showcase for French excellence, promoting innovations, talents and assets of our sponsors and stakeholders. For several years now, the Pavilion has been supported by the best representatives of French savoir-faire through our ambassador sponsors ENGIE and Orange, with the ambition of transmitting to visitors from all over the world French values of being bold, optimistic, and ensuring a sense of community. This special day was then followed by many events structured around twelve themed fortnights to raise public awareness about the challenges of tomorrow and to highlight French initiatives in terms of biodiversity, climate, peace, space, and consumption, to name a few. In result to these fortnights, the France Pavilion also organized panel discussions in collaboration with the French community, the UAE University, French institutions such as OFB and CEREMA; masterclass; workshops and photo exhibitions: throwback in our newsroom …

In light of the current situation in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) committed to support and assist all Kazakhstan tourists that were unable to leave the Emirate last week due to airline connectivity issues in their home country. The Authority provided all those without a flight home complimentary full board accommodation, inclusive of food and beverage and other amenities in their current hotel until the situation improves and travel is once more possible. Raki Phillips, CEO of Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, commented: “Our thoughts go out to the people of Kazakhstan during this challenging time and we sympathize with those last week who were unable to return home. Our outmost priority is the wellbeing and safety of our valued visitors during this stressful time and we remained committed to provide support until they were able to safely travel back to the Republic.”

Moscow City Tourism Committee kicked off its first in person roadshow in Dubai with 12 partners representing hotels, travel agents and tour operators from Moscow and St.Petersburg. The event was attended by around 90 key travel agents and tour operators in Dubai who were able to discuss on one on one basis the strategies to promote the destination with their clients. The roadshow kicked off with a comprehensive presentation from key partners in Moscow City Tourism about the offerings for the GCC market. One of the key highlights of the presentation was that 50 countries that are non GCC are on the list for e-visa whilst those not on the list are able to apply for a visa for a fee of US$ 40. They further explained about the current covid rules and regulations and the fact that wearing a mask and keeping social distance is z necessity in order to keep everyone safe; the travelers and the residents. Speaking on the occasion Julia Syundyukova Head of International Projects Moscow City Tourism shared that their main aim from this roadshow is to educate the agents about their many offerings for the GCC market as just before the pandemic they had a very good number of visitors from the region and since the two countries share the same safety standards with covid protocols. She further reiterated that the B2B sessions with agents will have a great impact and engage both parties to work together on the requirements for the region. She further stated that cuisine wise with more halal food offerings, experience wise with Arabic speakers to help guests, prayer rooms, family oriented experiences will benefit the region. The presentations at …

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) is partnering with leading forum organiser Intelligence Squared to stage a forum at Expo 2020 Dubai. Presented under the STB’s SingapoReimagine Global Conversations series, it aims to spur thought-leadership conversations on the future of travel and tourism. The SingapoReimagine Global Conversations which was launched in Singapore last year, encourages global industry leaders to exchange ideas and explore collaboration opportunities to reshape travel. It also highlights changing consumer behaviours as well as the latest trends and observations on travel and tourism. The Dubai edition is titled Reimagined Cities: Can cities leverage urban design and technology to attract the next generation traveller?. Taking place from 3.30pm to 5.00pm on Saturday, January 22, 2022 in the Terra Auditorium at Expo 2020 Dubai, the expert panel will dive into the shifts in global travel trends and what the next generation would want from a destination. Placing the spotlight on urban design and technology, these conversations will challenge traditional ways of destination marketing and discuss exciting trends within the travel and tourism industry. Starring a line-up of industry experts, the discussion will include insightful inputs from Dr. Barkathunnisha, Co-Founder, World Women Tourism and Founder of Elevated Consultancy & Training; Michael Magill, Managing Director, RSP Architects Panners & Engineers (Pte) Ltd Middle East; and Xavier Anglada, Managing Director at Accenture – Innovation, Digital Transformation, Energy Transition. The session will be moderated by Sarah Khan, recently appointed Editor-in-Chief of Condé Nast Traveller Middle East. Representing a new generation of modern travellers, Sarah brings a contemporary and global perspective to the travel industry and will be leading discussions on future of travel with a special focus on sustainability. The panel will cover a …

Starting off the year with its first webinar to discover Northern Germany virtually on Tuesday 18th January 2022 from 12 noon GST about the pristine sandy beaches, white chalk cliffs, sophisticated Baltic seaside resorts, cozy fishing villages, sky high brick churches and fairy tale castles of Meckenburg-Vorpommem. Germany is one of the most popular vacation destinations for the travelers in the Middle East as it has a diverse offering catering to each traveler from the Middle East, whether it be family, millennial, leisure, MICE etc. Meckenburg-Vorpommem located between the metropolises of Berlin and Hamburg in the northeast of Germany, the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has fascinated guests from all over the world for centuries. It is time once again for the agents in the region to take a quick peak at the destination to offer a new area to explore to those yearning to discover. Yamina Sofo Director Sales and Marketing German National Tourist Office GCC shares the importance of attending this event and invites all trade partners to join and learn about the novelties of this destination virtually at first. “We are looking forward welcoming our valued trade partners to ´The Gems of Northern Germany` where we will inform and update the GCC trade about Destination Germany and shed a special light to the beautiful federal-state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, one of Germany´s leading tourist destinations. We see immense potential of Germany`s Northern regions for our GCC guests and therefore wish to showcase the special natural wonders and cultural offering there are to experience. From pristine beaches to cozy fishing villages, fairy tale castles to sophisticated seaside resorts the destination has a treat for all age groups.” The region welcomes its …

The countdown has begun for the comprehensive webinar to be hosted on Tuesday 18th January 2022 from 12 noon GST about the pristine sandy beaches, white chalk cliffs, sophisticated Baltic seaside resorts, cozy fishing villages, sky high brick churches and fairy tale castles of Meckenburg-Vorpommem. Germany is one of the most popular vacation destinations for the travelers in the Middle East as it has a diverse offering catering to each traveler from the Middle East, whether it be family, millennial, leisure, MICE etc. Meckenburg-Vorpommem located between the metropolises of Berlin and Hamburg in the northeast of Germany, the federal state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern has fascinated guests from all over the world for centuries. It is time once again for the agents in the region to take a quick peak at the destination to offer a new area to explore to those yearning to discover. The region welcomes its guests with 2,000 kilometres of Baltic Sea coasts and 2,000 glistening lakes. It is also known as the sunniest region in all of Germany with 2,000 hours of sunshine per year. Also more than 30% of the whole region is under conservation. The unspoiled nature of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern inspired famous painters throughout the centuries and is best explored by foot, bike or boat says the experts. In terms of local wellness they offer such as Thalassotherapy and the so called healing forests or for those who want to let loose with all kinds of activities on land or on water you can take up kitesurfing, stand up paddling or Jeep Safari on an island. Virtually you can immerse yourself in the culture of a historical region and enjoy the local cuisine with freshly caught …

Moscow City Tourism Committee is set to hold its first on-ground roadshow in the UAE after the pandemic, within an ongoing initiative to promote Moscow as a leading tourism and business destination to the region. The first roadshow will take place in Dubai on the 10th of January 2022, at the Shangri-la Hotel Dubai, followed a second roadshow in Abu Dhabi on the 11th of January 2021, at Sofitel Corniche Abu Dhabi Hotel. Each roadshow is expected to attract a total of 90 attendees, while making sure all health and safety regulations are in place, as required by the local health authorities. it is expected that the key players from Moscow will come to have one-to-one meetings with the best representatives of the UAE tourism, hospitality, and aviation industries. The roadshow will also demonstrate the tourist potential of Moscow in the gastronomic sphere: this fall, the capital of Russia became the first city in the post-Soviet space to be included in the Michelin Red Guide. Commenting on the upcoming roadshows in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Head of International Division Anastasia Popova said: “Moscow City Tourism Committee is really excited to host its first live roadshow since the breakout in the UAE, as part of our efforts to further engage with the GCC market and develop our connections with the region. As means to broaden the connections between the UAE’s outbound travel professionals, MICE specialists and Mosturizm travel industry partners, the roadshows will prove a great opportunity to enhance relationships, develop new opportunities, and provide more options for Emirati customers.” In addition to the two upcoming roadshows, the Moscow City Tourism Committee is continuously developing and implementing highly-targeted marketing and public …